The Horns of Avalon

Epilogue

“We took a vote,” the man with the bald head and red facial hair said three seconds after he entered the room and sat down on the chair, facing Keo from the other side of the iron bars. Keo liked a man who got right to the point.

“Pray tell,” Keo said.

He didn’t bother getting up from the stained cot in the back of the cell or making any effort to open both eyes. One was enough to see the newcomer. Sunlight streamed in through the room’s only high window, but it was still closed and therefore didn’t do anything to clear up the stale air. The irony sucked — he was sitting on an island with an abundance of fresh air, but he couldn’t breathe in a single speck of it.

“Half voted to shoot you and toss you into the ocean,” the man said. “The other half wants to make it slow and painful.”

“I’ll take choice number three.”

“There is no choice number three.”

“I demand a recount.”

The man frowned. “You’re not taking this very seriously.”

“This is totally my serious face.”

“Your life is on the line.”

“Yeah? So what. Same shit, different day.”

The man smirked. “Interesting life you must lead.”

“You have no idea. I should write a book.”

“What would you call it?”

“Keo’s Life of High Adventure and Shitty Luck.”

“Doesn’t sound like such a great life, after all.”

“Depends on how you look at it,” Keo said.

The man smelled of fried fish, something Keo hadn’t had the pleasure of enjoying the last three days. At least they had fed him something, even if he couldn’t tell what that “something” was. But food was food, even if it did come in clumpy white liquid form on a heavily chipped and peeling cafeteria tray. They hadn’t bothered to give him any utensils — not even the cheap, flimsy kind — so Keo’s fingers were still sticky with this morning’s rations.

“I’ll tell you some stories if you tell me how the war’s going,” Keo said.

“We’re pulling most of our people back earlier than planned,” the man said.

That was surprising — not that they were pulling people back, but that the man was actually answering his question. Normally Keo couldn’t get a single word out of his guards, and the last four people who had come to see him hadn’t offered very much in terms of information, never mind what was happening beyond the island’s beaches.

“We’re not sure how to proceed without Mercer,” the man continued. “He was the engine that drove the revolution. Without him…” Baldy shook his head. “We’re at a crossroads, Mr. Keo.”

“Just Keo. Mr. Keo was the guy I pretended to be back in college in order to get some cheap tail.”

The man chuckled. It even sounded genuine.

“You got a name?” Keo asked.

“Rhett,” the man said.

“Nice to meet you, Rhett.”

“Can’t say the same, unfortunately.”

“Understandable. I did murder your boss.”

“Yes, you did.”

“So why am I still alive, Rhett?”

“Erin.”

“Erin?” Keo said, remembering his last image of her lying on the floor inside the Comm Room.

“We’ve been trying to figure out for the last three days why she did what she did,” Rhett said. “She was one of us. More than that, she was one of Mercer’s chosen few. And for her to do what she did… That’s why you’re still alive.”

There was sadness in Rhett’s face, the look of someone mourning more than just a colleague, but a friend…and maybe something more?

“Were the two of you involved?” Keo asked.

Rhett smiled but shook his head. “No. She wasn’t interested.”

“You ever heard of Rogaine?”

“No. I mean, she wasn’t interested in men.”

“Ah.”

“You didn’t know?”

“I never asked.”

“Not that that has anything to do with anything,” Rhett shrugged. “Anyway, we’ve spent the last three days gathering information, talking to people — everyone she knew, and who thought they knew her. We were at a dead end until we found this.” He reached into his back pocket and took out a piece of folded paper. “One of her friends found it. It was wedged under her pillow, which is why she didn’t see it until this morning when she was changing the covers.”

“What is it?”

“A note from Erin.” He opened it but didn’t show the contents to Keo. “It explains why she did what she did and what she was hoping to accomplish by it.”

“I’m not in there, am I?”

“No. She didn’t even mention you once.”

“Given my luck with women, that figures.”

“It’s about Mercer. And the war. Or, as she calls it in the letter, ‘Mercer’s bloody crusade.’”

“What else does it say?”

“The rest is meant for her friend.”

“Come on, Rhett, have a heart. I haven’t had much entertainment in here waiting for you guys to make up your minds.”

Rhett folded the paper and put it back into his pocket. “Suddenly it made sense why she did what she did. It’s something that a lot of us have thought about, but it took Erin’s sacrifice to finally bring it into the light.”

“The townspeople,” Keo said. It wasn’t a question.

“Yes,” Rhett nodded. “The townspeople.”

“None of that explains why I’m still alive. Mind you, not that I’m complaining, but being all alone in here day after day makes a guy think, and my head hurts.”

“We know you came to the island with Erin. What we don’t know is how much of a partnership the two of you had.”

“Assuming we had one, how does that work out for me?”

“I don’t know. I guess it would depend on how we ultimately decide to judge what Erin did.”

“So how’s it looking?”

“Fifty-fifty.”

“Eh, I’ve had worse odds.”

Rhett nodded. “If I were you, that would be my play, too. I don’t see any other option, given that you blew Mercer’s brains all over the Comm Room.”

“In my defense, I wanted to blow his brains all over his private quarters. We just ended up in Comm.”

“In any case, I don’t know what’s going to happen to you, Keo. For better or worse, right now you’re nowhere near our top priority.”

“Daebak.”

“What?”

“Just glad not to be number one with a bullet, is all.”

“No promises.” Rhett stood up and returned the chair to the corner. “Like I said, we’re at a crossroads. With Mercer gone, we don’t know how to proceed. Half of us wants to abandon the war effort, and the other half wants to finish it in Mercer’s memory.”

“Which half wants to kill me slowly and painfully?”

Rhett grinned. “Both halves want to kill you, remember?”

“Yeah, but I’m not a fan of the whole ‘slowly and painfully’ part.”

“Who is?” Rhett walked to the door. “Sit tight, Keo. No one’s going to kill you yet, slowly or painfully, until we decide where to go from here.”

Keo finally stood up and walked to the cell bars. “Hey, Rhett.”

Rhett stopped at the door and looked back.

“Do I at least get a phone call?” Keo asked. “Even a condemned man on death row gets a last wish.”

“No one has phones anymore, Keo.”

“One radio call, then.”

“And who would you radio?” He added quickly, “If I were to grant you your wish, hypothetically speaking.”

“A friend,” Keo said. “She happens to be a hell of a lot smarter than me — but that’s not saying much — so maybe she can help you out with your little problem, too.”

“What problem would that be?”

“You got an army, but you don’t know what do with it.” He leaned against the bar and held Rhett’s gaze. “Tell me, why did you go along with Mercer’s plan in the first place? You had to know it wasn’t going to mean dick in the larger scheme of things. Deep down, what was the reason? The real reason?”

“I wanted to fight back,” Rhett said without hesitation. “After everything they took from us — our loved ones, our friends, our city, our fucking planet — I wanted to strike back at the fuckers, and I didn’t know how. Mercer gave me a way.”

“See, the thing about sitting here all by my lonesome night after night is that it leaves you time to think.”

“And a headache, right?” Rhett grinned.

“Yeah, that too. Anyway, it occurred to me that I might know a guy who knows a way you can still do that — strike back at the ghouls — without that whole murdering innocent civilians part. And I bet this army of yours would come in real handy in making that happen.”

“A guy? You said you wanted to contact a ‘she’ earlier.”

“I can’t find the guy, but she can.”

Rhett stared at him but didn’t say anything. Keo couldn’t tell if the man was trying to decide if getting him a radio was worthwhile or how best to dispose of his body. Given how bad he was at reading people, it was probably a coin flip.

“Erin told me she should have stopped Mercer a long time ago,” Keo said. “It was her one big regret — that she let all of this happen. Mercer’s dead, but the damage is done. His way was never going to work. You have to know that.”

Rhett remained silent, but he didn’t turn and leave, either.

“I’m offering you another way,” Keo said. “A real path to victory. You interested?”

Rhett began walking back toward him. “I’m listening…”

“Good,” Keo said. “First things first: Get me that radio. Second thing: Can someone open that fucking window already? I’m choking on my own BO in here…”